New Poll: Washington Is Broken

We postulated this morning that a bulk of voter anger is directed at Washington in general, not Obama or the Democrats in particular, leaving all incumbents vulnerable in November’s mid-term elections. Providing further evidence of that theory, a new poll from NBC and the Wall Street Journal finds that 70 percent of Americans think that the federal government  is “unhealthy” or “stagnant,” while just 28 percent feel that it’s working “well” or “okay.” Here’s NBC’s Mark Murray:

What’s more, a whopping 93 percent believe there’s too much partisan infighting; 84 percent think the special interests have too much influence over legislation; nearly three-quarters say that not enough has been done to regulate Wall Street and the banking industry; and an equal 61 percent complain that both Democrats and Republicans in Congress aren’t willing to compromise….

“The message is a big one,” said Democratic pollster Peter D. Hart, who conducted this survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff. “The message is, ‘We hate what’s going in Washington.’”

That’s a message for the majority Democrats, certainly. But there’s also a warning in there for GOP leaders, who are spinning last week’s special Senate election in Massachusetts as an indictment of Democratic policies in general, and health care reform specifically. Those Republicans might be surprised to learn that, according to the NBC/WSJ poll, only 27 percent of respondents blame Obama for the country’s problems, and only 41 percent blame Democrats in Congress. Meanwhile, 48 percent blame congressional Republicans.